Look what i got 2 min ago

[magicninja]

I just got this Harmony Strat copy for $80. I hope I didn't get ripped off to bad. It had a trem so I went with it since I've never owned an axe with a trem. Wkat could I do to this thing to make it better?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c375/magicninja_/stuff038.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c375/magicninja_/stuff037.jpg

[Fenderalltheway]

NoW tHaTS A STRAT COPY!!!!! i have no idea what you can do, please dont ban me for it *pleads for life*I dont have a strat copy, i have a strat!lol

[magicninja]

It's OK I still have my Gibson but like they say the more the merrier!

[PRSplaya]

Nice looking strat you got there. There are a butt load of things you can do to a strat! New tunners, bridge, puckups, pots, pickguard, etc... Have fun! :D

[magicninja]

*jaw drops* Come on recommend some brands, types, sizes. I've never had an axe with single coils or a trem. I know stock this isn't worth playing over my Gibson but with a little help from my friends I might be able to turn this into something that won't collect dust. :D

[PRSplaya]

Well, I'm more of an amp guy, so I have no idea what to suggest for your guitar. Sorry :o

[magicninja]

Awww! Alright your off the hook. LAAATTTSS!!!!

[Lordathestrings]

You called? :D


Who says you have to change anything?

Play it for a while, until some of the 'new' wears off a bit, and potential improvements suggest themselves. It may be that a good set-up is all it needs. Well, maybe.

If it won't stay in tune, even with the bridge and nut set up, then you can think about new tuners. New pickups are a big temptation, but that's a waste of money unless the guitar sounds good unplugged. So like I said, spend some time getting to know what you have before you get all antsy about what you could do with it.

[magicninja]

Indeed I need your wisdom. Thanks LATS! You truly are the Gear Guru! :D

Don't be surprised if I revive this thread in a month or two though. :p

[magicninja]

Initial Thoughts:

Clean tones are actually pretty amazing on this thing better than I expected anyway!

Blues tones are spectacular! A little dirt and this thing will cry.

Anything more than that is rubbish. Could it be that this guitar is telling me that the body tone is good but the pickups aren't hot enough to crank out the distortion?

Gstring goes out of tune alot like at least 1/4 step. This easily fixable?

[PonyOne]

Well, if you do decide to go nuts on the pickups, then here are a few companies to think of:

Rio Grande: great blues and bluesrock pickups, a bit growlier than stock strat pickups generally.

Lindy Fralin: long held to nail "that strat sound" better than most Fender-made pickups.

Duncan: probably their most popular lines would be the Antiquities, which are made very carefully to vintage specs using the same formulations in the magnets and wire, and then "distressed" to look like an anient pickup; or their Hot Rails, which are single-coil sized humbuckers, which range in tone from a bit hotter than normal to screaming hot.

DiMarzio: don't know much about their strat lineup though their HB's and P90's kick ass.

Fender: the Noiseless ones are pretty popular since they have no hum, and I must say their TexMex pickups are really good sounding, they get a good, well, bluesy/country/bluesrock/countryrock sound to them. but you may as well get some Rio Grandes for the cost, they'll sound better anyway.

On my Strat, I have 2 1meg pots (1 volume, 1 tone) so that I can run it wide open and boost up the game. I put a couple roller string trees on it the other night to give it a bit better intonation, and they have the little rollers that are supposed to help with tuning when you play with the trem; don't know how true this is yet. Oh yeah and a DiMarzio P90 :cool:

[Lordathestrings]

... Could it be that this guitar is telling me that the body tone is good but the pickups aren't hot enough to crank out the distortion?It's been my experience that high-output single-coil pickups just don't sound as sweet when backed off to play clean. If you want to push your amp into distorting, use a pedal to boost the signal.

...Gstring goes out of tune alot like at least 1/4 step. This easily fixable?Press on the string between the nut and the tuner. If the pitch stays a bit sharp when you release it, the string is binding in the nut slot. That's one of the things a pro set-up takes care of, along with adjusting the action and intonation. I'm thinking that you like what you've found so far, so it's probably worth the few bucks it'll cost to get it set up.

[magicninja]

Yup..I'll probably take this one and my LP to Albuquerque sometime this month and have them both tweaked up a little. The Gibby needs a truss rod adjustment and I don't want to risk it myself. :rolleyes:

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

what can you do to it? *laughs evilly* plenty.. you can:
change the tuners
change the pickups
sheild it
new pickup covers
new pickguard
graphite string trees
graphite bridge saddles
graphite nut
straplocks
put in 500k or 1 mega-ohm pots
new knobs


and that's all I can think of off the top of my head for mods that aren't too difficult to make. I really recommend straplocks and sheilding it. I really wanna just buy a cheap strat copy like this and mod it out to my hearts desire. did you get yours for $80 new or used?

[magicninja]

Did you get yours for $80 new or used?

Barely used. It seems I always get my stuff cheap from some guy that is down and out. :o Oh well, I just wonder why everyone getting rid of stuff comes to me first? :confused:

[Danny C.]

I also have a Harmony strat copy. It's the only electric guitar I have ever owned. I bought mine off e-bay several years ago. A guy that owns a music store in the city told me they don't make Harmony strat copies like that anymore, but I wasn't sure. I have never even played a guitar that wasn't a strat copy or an actual strat. I have been wanting to upgrade but I don't have that green paper stuff to get one, maybe instead I can fix mine up too.

[magicninja]

Cool stay tuned man these guys know their stuff! :D

[SteveAKCK]

Check out this thread on Seymour Duncan's website. It's in the vault section.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24908
Here's a couple more on pickup selections for strats
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50533&highlight=ultimate+pickup
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55478&highlight=ultimate+pickup

[magicninja]

I'm gonna go with the Rio Grande Pickups I seen on ebay. Ponyone loves his strat so I'm sure he knows his stuff.

[PonyOne]

I'm gonna go with the Rio Grande Pickups I seen on ebay. Ponyone loves his strat so I'm sure he knows his stuff.
yyyessss! those rio grandes are balls out, man.

[Blues_Man]

If you want it to not collect dust over your gibson, then here is what you must do:

Change the tuners, and trem. to maybe higher grade, fender tuners, GOLD if possible.( doesn't make a difference what so ever in tuning quality, but it looks cool). Make sure you put 5 TREM SPRINGS in the trem. cavity! This really helps tuning stability.

change the pickups to dimarzio or seymour duncan. Something noisless. My fav's are the fender hot noiseless Pu's.

Get a kick-ass guitar strap :D

[capohead]

The two most useful things you can do are

graphite bridge saddles
graphite nut


The bridge saddles will reduce the number of strings you break and help the sustain the nut will also help with sustain and should help your tuning.

Having said that, it's an $80 guitar. It's not a Fender. How much money are you prepared to spend on it to still not have a Fender?

Not that it matters in the end if you get a guitar that you're comfortable with and plays well.

Good luck.

[guitarmod]

I have owned a few strat copies and here is what i have done.

Stripped the paint off( long and detailed but fun)
Change pickups.
Add A 9v BATTERY!(the battery will just enhance the pickups you just bought)
tuners, the locking kind
if you are going to change your trem, i would suggest a bigsby, just because they are cool.
a black pickgaurd, so you can be like David Gilmore! (he just had a black strat, and changed his pickgaurd from white to black, and left the knobs and pick up covers white. It looks very cool.)
A New neck. This might be difficult because it might not fix exactly. Measure twice buy once.

thats it. good luck have a blast.

[Blues_Man]

I have owned a few strat copies and here is what i have done.

Stripped the paint off( long and detailed but fun)
Change pickups.
Add A 9v BATTERY!(the battery will just enhance the pickups you just bought)
tuners, the locking kind
if you are going to change your trem, i would suggest a bigsby, just because they are cool.
a black pickgaurd, so you can be like David Gilmore! (he just had a black strat, and changed his pickgaurd from white to black, and left the knobs and pick up covers white. It looks very cool.)
A New neck. This might be difficult because it might not fix exactly. Measure twice buy once.

thats it. good luck have a blast.

If you do all that crap to a guitar you shouldn't spend more than $80 bucks for it! the only thing original on that thing is the body, and you murdered the paint! and just out of personal preference, i hate battery powered anything having to do with my guitar, amp or pedals! the batteries run out way to quickly, and get annoying to change.

[z0s0_jp]

Do this ;)
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b80/scleppe/eric12.jpg
p.s. check out the action :eek: i think it is a miniature

[magicninja]

The whole reason I want to go ape nuts on this thing is because it cost $80. Even if I don't really like it in the end , so what? I would hate to try to mod out an $800-$1200 guitar and then not like it. I'm 23, this won't be the last strat bodied guitar I will get. So if I don't like this one when I'm done I can put these mods on the next strat-like axe I get. I just wanna try some things and get used to modding my stuff because we all know practice makes perfect. Thanks everyone for all the advice. :)

[Ito1221]

well the first thing i would do is egt a locking system...i find with whammy bars if they dont have a locking system they go out of tune really easy and really bad...first suggestion...locking systems like floyd rose and **** are a bitch to use..but they keep your guitar in tune....not a bad guitar for 80 bucks my friend